Gov. Rick Scott on Tuesday directed the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to put high-water vehicles in position to respond as the National Hurricane Season monitored a large area of showers that extended from the northwestern Caribbean across Cuba and into the Florida peninsula.

“Although the storm currently has a relatively low chance of development into a tropical system, we must take it seriously,” Scott said in a prepared statement.

Heavy rain, localized flooding, and unsettled seas are possible anywhere from coastal Louisiana to Florida over the Memorial Day weekend. A disturbance in the western Caribbean is forecast to move into the Gulf of Mexico later this week, where it could acquire tropical characteristics before drifting ashore.

In a statement Monday morning, the National Hurricane Center gave the potential system a low, or 20 percent, chance of developing into a tropical depression or storm over the next five days.

With another hurricane season around the corner, there could be some changes to the way school districts and counties receive reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for the cost of storm shelters.

The potential for strong or severe storms Monday includes most of central and south Florida, generally near and south of the I-4 corridor. Storms are likely to redevelop near the I-4 corridor by 9 am. A widespread event is not anticipated, but a few of Monday’s storms may grow strong enough to produce minor wind damage or an isolated tornado.

The eastern third of the country, including the Sunshine State, is experiencing a “January thaw” this week. And yes, there is some science to it. But with another arctic air mass looming this weekend, the warm up will be brief. Subfreezing temperatures are possible again in north Florida by Sunday or Monday morning.

The cold front that moved through Florida this past weekend brought a light dusting of snow in some portions of the western Panhandle and even some light frost in Southwest Florida, but the cooler temperatures left Florida agriculture operations relatively unscathed.

But a cold front over the weekend has proved that rule wrong for shivering Floridians, bringing in a dusting of snow across the western Panhandle late Saturday night into Sunday morning.

As temperatures dipped into the low 30s, some areas of the Sunshine State including Escambia County saw up to two inches of snow, NorthEscambia.com reported on Twitter. The news site posted a photo of a ‘Welcome to Florida’ sign covered in light snow.

A storm system moving across Florida on Thanksgiving Day might seem like a tropical storm to some.

Relentless rain and gusty winds are expected from the Nature Coast to the First Coast from a non-tropical area of low pressure moving in from the Gulf of Mexico. The unsettled weather, while not as intense, will drift across central and South Florida Friday.

Hotels and room-sharing services could become part of hurricane preparations in South Florida, say officials who are looking to encourage local evacuations for future storms.

"Really, within the state there's nowhere to evacuate that's safer than staying within Miami-Dade County because we can't necessarily predict where a hurricane's going to end up," said Jane Gilbert, chief resilience officer for the city of Miami. "People had a hard time getting out of the state."